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wari had a few ideas on new techniques. The more he made the more of those evolved techniques he could make and the less he would need to focus on ensuring his mystic arts were being activated correctly. As he thought about this he raised his sword up and swung it down in a basic vertical motion. As he did he felt out his affinities. Out of all of them the one he was most interested in was the earth affinity. His earth affinity was naturally his strongest by this point. Not only had he eaten all of those earth affinity beasts, but he had eaten part of a behemoth, and he had Hebi.
Owari swung his sword while stimulating his earth affinity. His sword glowed brown and when he swung the weight and durability increased giving the blade more force. When he stopped the blade it still caused the grass under it to sway for the air it displaced. Owari swung his sword like this a few times. Once he was satisfied he started to practice the overhead swing without the earth affinity enhancing it.
He used pure brute force to strike with his sword with no regard for the sword. The sword tried to pull the wind along it but Owari forced his sword through it not bothering to drag the wind along. Instead he smashed straight through the air as if it wasn’t there. He used all of the strength in his body, pulling from one of his old techniques of redirecting force through his body and focusing it. By doing so he increased the raw force being applied to the sword.
The sword understandably snapped from pressure put on it. However what was shocking about this was the fact that it had snapped by hitting the air and not a rock. After snapping the blade Owari grabbed another and retried the attack. This time he added some of the resistance reducing method to create a bastardized version of the moth wing strike which focuses on smashing instead of cutting.
Owari smiled with satisfaction after breaking three swords and finally getting it down. After that he used the same technique, however this time he used his earth affinity. The attack had even more weight behind it. When he stopped it the grass below it tore slightly from the force of the air displacement caused by the attack. Owari had to use his force-displacement technique to the maximum to keep from being thrown forward by the attack.
Owari then tried the attack out, however his target was the ground and not a boulder or tree. He swung his sword and smashed the ground with it as hard as he could. When the sword connected with the ground it barely cut in before all of the weight and force of his attack was transferred into the dirt and stone beneath. When this occurred the ground shook as a visible wave arose in the dirt. A moment later the ground had a shockwave run through it before a localized explosion of dirt and debris flew into the air as if a large boulder had smashed into the ground heavily.
Owari stood at the center and also experienced the power of his attack. Luckily he was at the center of the impact and it mostly blasted away from him. As he looked at the after-effects, he was a bit surprised. Within an area of around three meters the ground was gouged out and left a crater. Even the spot he was in had fallen down. As for where the debris was, it was currently in the air slowly falling down as a cloud of dust. Some stones also dropped onto the ground.
He decided to call this technique earth breaker since it literally shatters the earth. After that he tried it out using his sword from a few directions. He found that as long as he swung his sword by about 45 degrees he could activate the technique. However it would be weaker if he didn’t swing from above since he would have to fight gravity instead of having it help him.
After that he decided to try his next technique. He swung his sword using the moth wing strike while spinning his body all the way around slowly creating a small vortex around him. After stopping he was slightly dizzy but he quickly recovered. Next he repeated the process and added his wind affinity mana. After spinning only once the wind surrounding his blade glowed bright green and quickly rotated around him creating a tornado around him. After a few seconds the wind died down. Since he was at the center of it and it was his own mana that fueled the effect he was left alone. The dirt and debris recently kicked up however had been sucked in and shot into the air again.
His plan for that technique was to use it as a 360-degree defense to block attacks from multiple directions. Next he worked on shortening the amount he had to move to activate the technique. He found that if he got to about 180 degrees and swung his sword further it would work well enough though not quite as strong. He decided to call this technique vortex shield.
Owari nodded with satisfaction and stretched his body. Then he got to work on his final idea. He got into a sword draw stance and swung his blade while infusing it with water mana. As he used the moth wing strike the air surrounding it became blue and as soon as he started the backswing the water mana exploded forward creating a short range blast of water. This was a technique he could use to block attacks from the front when he needed. He decided to call this technique wave shield, pairing it with the vortex shield as his defensive techniques. Though he rarely went on the defensive it was important to have some versatility.
That was pretty much everything he had planned to try out. Now he just went about turning his new mud affinity enhancing method into an instinctive technique. His hope was to evolve it, but even by the end of the day he hadn’t managed it. It wasn’t easy to make a technique overcome your natural instincts. It would take him a little while to manage it.
Over the next few days Owari had two things two do, train, and make sure his silk business was sorted. He went to the silk production warehouse and made sure things were going smoothly. Then he used the profits they had made so far to make the place into a better workspace. After all it wouldn’t do to make his employees work in such a dreary environment. After that he suddenly had an idea. He had been troubled on what to do about the finances while he was out which he usually handled.
He went and got a simple mouse type magical beast and tamed it. Then he went back to the warehouse and spoke to Ethel. “Just show the papers to this guy at noon on Wednesdays.” He said to her.
“Why?” She was a bit confused. What would that change?
“I can have the mouse send me its memories of the page right away and then I can fill out the paperwork and submit it from wherever I am.” One good thing about shared memories was that the memories weren’t diluted by bias. They were like photographs.
“You can share memories with you magical beasts?” Ethel looked at him weirdly.
“Can’t everyone?” He was a bit confused.
“Who told you that?” She was more than a bit shocked.
“My father did. He had a book that had the technique in it along with all his notes on magical beasts.” Owari suddenly realized something. If everyone could do what he could, why would there be letters? “Whatever you do, don’t tell anyone this secret.”
“So you realize it now.” She chuckled.
“It was obvious, I just missed it before now. Obviously I’d like for you not to tell anyone about this.” Owari said with some embarrassment.
“I’m everyone’s granny after all. I can’t go sharing your secrets or I’d have to share everyones. You’d be surprised how many people come to me for advice.” She smiled warmly as she thought about all the youngsters. Without kids of her own she treated anyone who wanted it as her own.
“Thank goodness it was you I came to then.” Owari sighed. “Well the plan still stands. Just show the financial reports to the mouse at noon on Wednesdays and I’ll handle the rest.” Owari soon returned back to normal.
“Alright, will do boss.” She said the word boss with more than a hint of amusement.
Owari just chuckled and left. After that he spent the rest of the next few days training. It was on the 8th that Noel made her way to Owari’s. When he opened the door the first thing he saw was Noel having a sour look on her face. “Did you get denied?” He asked curiously.
“No, I can go. But you could have come see me before this you know? You didn’t have to wait for me to come tell you about this.” She seemed to be in a bad mood, but Owari could tell that what she said wasn’t the real reason.
He leaned over and kissed her head. “Something bothering you?” He asked just to check.
“My father tried to convince me to break things off with you. He said all kinds of untrue stuff about you to try and slander you. As if I don’t know you better than he does.” She scoffed.
“It’s just a dad being a dad.” Owari laughed. He couldn’t get along with the man, but he could respect that he was looking out for Noel in his own messed up way. “How long can you be out for?” He tried changing the subject to something more positive.
“Three months.” It seemed to work as she noticeably brightened up.
“That’s a pretty good amount of time to get around the place. Where do you want to go first?” He didn’t really care too much, he knew a few good places with supposed platinum ranked beasts to fight against.
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“I’m not sure. Did you have something in mind?” She decided to throw the responsibility to him.
“How about we start with the White Tiger territory to the west. I hear they have some pretty ferocious beasts being partially in the badlands and all.” Owari recommended.
“Fine by me.” Noel didn’t care as long as she got a good fight.
“Will you be staying here Morgana?” Owari asked curiously.
“Wherever the young miss goes I go. That is one of the terms of my contract.” Morgana smiled.
“Perfect.” Owari chuckled, it was always nice to have Morgana around. She was very good at her job, and she rarely made her presence known.
“I’m curious about something though.” Morgana spoke up, since she had his attention anyway.
“Ask away.” Owari didn’t think she needed permission but he knew she wouldn’t ask without it.
“Have you reached platinum rank?” She got straight to the point.
“I did. I guess I forgot to tell you.” Owari nodded.
“There was no need to tell me. But does that mean you discovered the secret?” Morgana smiled as she asked this.
“I think so. If you’re referring to the evolution of mystic arts then yes.” Owari wondered where she was going with this.
“They’re called spirit arts. I think we should go somewhere so I can explain them. It’s about time Noel learns as well so she can begin preparing.” Morgana recommended.
“Sure, sounds good to me.” Owari agreed.
“That sounds quite important, we should do as she says.” Noel also agreed at the same time.
The group made their way over to the Sapphire Agency’s restaurant for brunch since it wasn’t quite time for lunch. When they got into their room Morgana got to explaining. “Spirit arts are the evolution as Owari called it of mystic arts. When you reach a certain level of innate understanding of one of your techniques and it becomes second nature to you, it will evolve into a spirit art. Spirit arts are to humans what magical abilities are to magical beasts. Like how a shadow panther can disappear into shadows, spirit arts are entirely magical and can be used without prompt.”
“So you don’t need to use special martial arts techniques to activate spirit arts?” Noel asked for clarification.
“That’s right. You just need to supply the mana and it will automatically activate. What effects it has depends on the technique it is derived from.” Morgana explains patiently.
“Doesn’t this technically violate my family’s rules of learning from others?” Noel worried.
“No. This is the same as when they taught you about mystic arts. It’s simply informing you there is a higher level. It’s up to you to reach that level. It should be easier for you since you should already have an innate understanding of your mystic arts.” Morgana alleviated her worries.
“Thank goodness.” Noel breathed a sigh of relief. She really should have asked before listening.
“However that isn’t the only type of spirit art there is.” Morgana cut in. “When you reach a certain amount of one affinity it will evolve into a spirit art all of its own.”
“Then I should probably be close to an earth affinity spirit art.” Owari commented.
“Do you have a lot of earth affinity?” Morgana was curious, could it be more than Noel had for kinetic?
“I should, after all I’ve eaten a lot of earth affinity beasts, not to mention a behemoth, or the fact that Hebi has the earth affinity.” Owari explained.
“I see, but that may not be enough. Most require a few beasts of the same affinity. Or with a powerful affinity.” Morgana informed him.
“Alright.” Owari nodded. He would need to eat a lot more earth affinity beasts.
Completely unaware of Owari’s new goal, Morgana continued. “Spirit arts of this type are entirely different from ones evolved through mystic arts. Nobody knows how the technique is chosen, but most find them useful.”
“Does that mean you have spirit arts as well?” Noel asked despite knowing the answer.
“Of course.” Morgana nodded.
It was about this time that their food arrived and everyone ate. Even Morgana ate with them due to the circumstances. After that the serious talks died off, Morgana had explained all of the important parts. The two of them could work out the rest for themselves. They ate and talked and soon it was time to leave.
Owari and Noel went to the train station and bought some tickets for the next day and then they went to Noel’s place so she could pack. Owari had nothing to pack really so he stayed there and waited for Noel to finish. Once she did the two of them walked around town. It was cloudy out which Noel was happy about. The summer sun was always the worst for her.
After finishing their day of walking around the two went back to Noel’s place and talked some before she went to sleep. As much as Owari would like to sleep over he had to talk to the inn lady the next morning. When that time came he informed her that he would be gone for a while but hoped she would keep his room for him since he had a lot of personal possessions in there. She agreed. He had been a good customer and she knew he was special based on some of the people who came through here to leave messages for him.
The next day Owari and Noel showed up to the train station around the same time. When they arrived it was a bit early so they had time to talk. “How long will it take to arrive at our destination?” Noel asked Owari.
“About a week and a half.” Owari answered. This was why they were glad they had as much time as they did. It took a while to get around, even via express train.
“That’s a while.” Noel was a bit annoyed they would be spending so much time traveling.
“Next time let’s pick a place closer to the border instead of the main city.” Owari agreed.
“Alright. Looks like the train is here.” Noel notified everyone as the train started to pull up. She was the first to notice due to her sensitivity to movement.
The three boarded the train and left. It was an express train but it would still take so long to get to the next city. This mostly had to do with Leviathan city being on the northern border of its territory. This meant it was decently far away from most places in a southern area. That was because the continent was shaped like an upside-down U with a fat top. This meant the Leviathan territory was one of the only currently controlled territories with a connection to the southern sea.
The three of them still rode low class and so they naturally kept quiet and meditated the entire time. It took about 10 days to reach their destination. It wasn’t until they reached their destination that Owari and Noel opened their eyes. They left after waking up and made their way out into the city to look around.
“This place is interesting.” Noel said from the side as she looked around with interest. The various buildings were all of different styles. In the spirit of the colorful clothing of the westerners the city was similar.
“I agree.” Owari thought it was a bit garish.
The two took a small walk around town looking for a place to stay. They planned to stay here for about a week. Noel needed a place to store her clothes while they were out. They eventually found a place,of course Noel and Owari were sharing a room and Morgana had her own for the sake of saving money. Or at least that was the excuse they used to justify it, not that they needed to.
Owari and Noel went back into town after paying and looked at all the interesting buildings. Most were made of brick, but they were in different colors and shapes. Some were box houses with triangular roofs, while another might have a flat roof style and be rectangular. Some were in eastern style while others were like northern longhouses. It was quite the scene. It also meant the various shops had the proper building style for what they were instead of just being a generic shop.
Owari and Noel made their way into an eastern restaurant and sat down at their designated table. They both ordered noodles and ate them with some satisfaction. They had long gained a taste for them. Owari could understand why his father liked to have them on occasion. After that they went back to loitering around town. They watched the various people going about their lives with interest.
“I think I get why you like to be an observer.” Noel suddenly said as they watched some kids run by trying to go to the park nearby, followed by their worried parents.
“Why’s that?” Owari asked curiously.
“Because people are interesting and it gives perspective. Like you’re outside of everything and can look at things from different angles.” Noel couldn’t quite put it into words.
“Sounds about right. I like seeing the different ways people do things. It’s refreshing to see people going about their ordinary lives while I live such a strange one.” Owari also couldn’t quite put it into words either. Despite this they both seemed to understand what the other meant.
The two fell back into silence and continued their walk. As expected they attracted a lot of attention. But unlike usual where they simply ignored it, they observed the reactions of those around them with curiosity. After all they had never been bothered by the strange looks and such. However they never really bothered to pay attention to it.
The people were looking at them with many types of looks. One woman looked at Noel with pity. While a young man looked at Owari with envy. A hunter of some skill ducked his head and ignored them entirely, trying to make his presence as small as possible. There were some kids who looked at them curiously. Noel and Owari smiled at them kindly and the kids smiled and waved. The two of them waved back and continued on their way.
This continued until night when they finally went back to the inn and got some sleep. When they woke up they immediately got to work. That was enough rest and sightseeing for them. They hopped on an express train and took it for eight hours out of the city. After that was a four-hour hike along the grasslands until they came to a massive swamp known as the great swamp. It was very large and held about 50% of the total water of this region. It had its own water cycle powered by magical beasts deep within the territory.
Owari and Noel made their way towards the swamp while Morgana stuck to the outside as usual. Owari had brought some mapping tools since most people didn’t bother mapping the area because it was hard to do so due to the water. However Owari had a waterproof pack and map tubes to store the maps in. He planned to make some maps to sell off back in the city for some travel funds, not that he needed them.
The two approached the swamplands and prepared their own techniques before jumping into some trees. They swooped from tree to tree while keeping an eye on one another and the swamps below. Eventually after a few hours of jumping from tree to tree they found a target. A large green snake about 4 meters long with a big body was currently on the edge of the water and land.
“It should be high gold rank. That’s a jade scale serpent. It probably evolved from an aquatic snake given the habitat. But they are usually gold rank. This one is especially big showing its age.” Owari explained. “It isn’t poisonous or venomous, but it does have a powerful tail and constricting power as well as a mutated earth affinity called jade affinity. Don’t get caught.”
“Alright. I can handle this.” Noel psyched herself up a bit and took a deep breath.
She dropped down in front of the snake and let it take a look at her. The moment it realized she was not only weaker than it but also had a lot of magical energy it couldn’t help but grow greedy. It failed to notice Owari who was off to the side, if it had known he was there it would have bolted right away so he didn’t show himself.
The snake rushed forward with its mouth wide open. Its mouth and fangs flashed greenish-white and it tried to chomp her directly. However she ducked under it and punched upwards with an earth infused fist. As soon as the blow connected it knocked the snakes head up a bit. However this initial blow was followed up by a powerful shockwave that exploded up and knocked the snake back.
The snake seemed pretty much unharmed by this attack and continued its assault by flicking its tail at her. The tail flashed greenish-white again and Noel jumped to the side with a new movement technique Owari had yet to see. It was a movement technique that made use of her control over kinetic energy to allow her to reach maximum speed instantly and to increase her speed overall. It allowed her to instantly move half a meter, and she kept going after.
Noel swiftly approached the snake using this new technique and punched out once again. This time she didn’t aim for the head and instead aimed for the powerful scales that covered its back. However the snake was too smart to give her the chance and quickly shifted its body out of the way to her annoyance. It seemed like this was going to be more trouble than she initially expected. But such was a fight between two top gold ranks. Not that she had reached that point quite yet.